Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a four wheel drive power transmission system of a hybrid electric vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a four wheel drive power transmission system of a hybrid electric vehicle capable of maximizing improvement of fuel efficiency by performing driving of a power split mode having better low-speed driving efficiency and a parallel mode having better high-speed driving efficiency.
Description of Related Art
Generally, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle which uses two different power sources efficiently.
Such a hybrid electric vehicle typically uses an engine and a motor/generator. The hybrid electric vehicle uses the motor/generator having relatively better low-speed torque characteristics as a main power source at a low-speed and uses an engine having relatively better high-speed torque characteristics as a main power source at a high-speed.
Since the hybrid electric vehicle stops operation of the engine using the fossil fuel and uses the motor/generator at a low-speed region, fuel consumption may be improved and exhaust gas may be reduced.
The power transmission system of a hybrid electric vehicle is classified into a single-mode type and a multi-mode type.
A torque delivery apparatus such as clutches and brakes for shift control is not necessary, but fuel consumption is high due to deterioration of efficiency at a high-speed region and an additional torque multiplication device is required for being applied to a large vehicle according to the single-mode type.
Since the multi-mode type has high efficiency at the high-speed region and is able to multiply torque autonomously, the multi-mode type can be applied to a full size vehicle.
Therefore, the multi-mode type instead of the single-mode type is applied as the power transmission system of a hybrid electric vehicle and is also under continuous investigation.
The power transmission system of the multi-mode type includes a plurality of planetary gear sets, a plurality of motor/generators operated as a motor and/or a generator, a plurality of torque delivery apparatus (e.g., friction elements, synchronizer and so on) controlling rotation elements of the planetary gear sets, and a battery used as a power source of the motor/generators.
The power transmission system of the multi-mode type has different operating mechanisms depend on connections of the planetary gear sets, the motor/generators, and the torque delivery apparatus.
In addition, the power transmission system of the multi-mode type has different features such a durability, power delivery efficiency, and size depend on the connections of the planetary gear sets, the motor/generators, and the torque delivery apparatus. Therefore, designs for the connection structure of the power transmission system of a hybrid electric vehicle are also under continuous investigation to achieve robust and compact power transmission system having no power loss.
The hybrid electric vehicle may be classified into a two wheel drive (hereinafter, referred to as 2WD) type and a four wheel drive (hereinafter, referred to as 4WD) type depending on a driving type.
The 2WD hybrid electric vehicle is generally configured to drive a front wheel using two motors/generators and a planetary gear set.
The 4WD hybrid electric vehicle is configured to drive the front wheel using the two motors/generators and the planetary gear set and is configured to drive a rear wheel using one motor/generator.
However, the 4WD hybrid electric vehicle uses the two motors/generators and the planetary gear set to drive the front wheel to convert a part of the power of the engine into electrical energy at all times, such that fuel efficiency may be reduced in a high-speed region.
Therefore, in order to supplement the above problem, there is a need to increase the number of planetary gear sets and the number of clutches and brakes, which may lead to reduced power transmission efficiency and increased production cost.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.